Systems and methods for facilitating purchases

ABSTRACT

Methods and systems for facilitating a program with participating merchants and consumers are described. In some embodiments, a method includes receiving a wish list of a user. The wish list may include items or services sold by merchants participating in the program. The wish list may be published to the merchants participating in the program. A location of the user may be determined, and an offer from one of the participating merchants may be received, where the offer is based on the location of the user. A total cost of the offer may be calculated by analyzing the offer. The user may be notified of the offer and the total cost.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.16/940,755 filed Jul. 28, 2020, now allowed, which is a continuation ofU.S. patent application Ser. No. 15/969,635 filed May 2, 2018, entitled“SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR FACILITATING PURCHASES,” issued as U.S. Pat.No. 10,769,681 on Sep. 8, 2020, which is a continuation of U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 14/204,183 filed Mar. 11, 2014, entitled “SYSTEMSAND METHODS FOR FACILITATING PURCHASES”, issued as U.S. Pat. No.10,032,193 on Jul. 24, 2018, which claims priority to U.S. ProvisionalApplication No. 61/777,474 filed Mar. 12, 2013, entitled “REVERSEAUCTION,” all of which are hereby incorporated by reference in theirentireties for all purposes.

TECHNICAL FIELD

Various embodiments of the present disclosure generally relate tofacilitating purchases. More specifically, various embodiments relate tosystems and methods for facilitating purchases.

BACKGROUND

Consumers often spend valuable time shopping at various merchants forthe best deal on an item or service for purchase. Merchants oftenadvertise to consumers without specifically knowing what the consumer isinterested in purchasing. Accordingly, both consumers and merchantswould benefit from a system that allows a merchant insight into aconsumer's specific needs and provides the consumer with the best dealfor the consumer.

SUMMARY

In some embodiments, a method includes receiving a wish list of a user,where the wish list includes items or services sold by merchantsparticipating in a reverse auction program. The method may furtherinclude publishing the wish list to the merchants participating in thereverse auction program, identifying a location of the user, andreceiving one or more offers from at least one of the merchantsparticipating in the reverse auction program. The method may furtherinclude analyzing the one or more offers to calculate a total cost ofeach of the one or more offers and notifying the user of the one or moreoffers and the total cost of the one or more offers.

Upon receiving acceptance of one of the one or more offers, a purchasemay be completed with a merchant whose offer was accepted. The one ormore offers may include an offer for more than one item or service onthe wish list. The method may include publishing the one or more offersfrom the at least one of the merchants participating in the reverseauction program. Funds may be deposited into an escrow account for theuser in accordance with a price or total cost the user is willing to payfor each item listed on the wish list.

The total cost of each of the one or more offers may include a price ofthe item or service, a cost of delivery of the item or service, and acost of time to the user. The method may further include aggregatingwish lists associated with at least two users to negotiate on behalf ofthe at least two users.

Computer-readable mediums that recite instructions similar to the methodsteps are discussed. Further, systems including components that areconfigured to accomplish the steps recited in the method are alsodiscussed.

While multiple embodiments are disclosed, still other embodiments willbecome apparent to those skilled in the art from the following detaileddescription, which shows and describes illustrative embodiments. As willbe realized, embodiments of the present disclosure are capable ofmodifications in various aspects, all without departing from the scopeof the present disclosure. Accordingly, the drawings and detaileddescription are to be regarded as illustrative in nature and notrestrictive.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Embodiments of the present disclosure will be described and explainedthrough the use of the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 illustrates an example of an operating environment in which someembodiments of a purchasing facilitator may be utilized;

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating examples of components of apurchasing facilitator;

FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating an example set of operations foroperating a purchasing facilitator in accordance with variousembodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating an example set of operations foroperating a purchasing facilitator in accordance with variousembodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating an example set of operations foroperating a purchasing facilitator in accordance with variousembodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating an example set of operations foroperating a purchasing facilitator in accordance with variousembodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 7 is a flowchart illustrating an example set of operations foroperating a purchasing facilitator in accordance with variousembodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 8 is a sequence diagram illustrating communications between variouscomponents of a purchasing facilitator in accordance with variousembodiments of the present disclosure; and

FIG. 9 illustrates an example of a computer system with which someembodiments of the present disclosure may be utilized.

The drawings have not necessarily been drawn to scale. For example, thedimensions of some of the elements in the figures may be expanded orreduced to help improve the understanding of the embodiments of thepresent disclosure. Similarly, some components and/or operations may beseparated into different blocks or combined into a single block for thepurposes of discussion of some of the embodiments of the presentdisclosure. Moreover, while the disclosure is amenable to variousmodifications and alternative forms, specific embodiments have beenshown by way of example in the drawings and are described in detailbelow. Some embodiments may include steps or features of otherembodiments. The intention, however, is not to limit the disclosure tothe particular embodiments described. On the contrary, the disclosure isintended to cover all modifications, equivalents, and alternativesfalling within the scope of the disclosure as defined by the appendedclaims.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Various embodiments of the present disclosure generally relate tofacilitating purchases. More specifically, various embodiments relate tosystems and methods for facilitating purchases. The described systemsand methods allow merchants to make offers to a customer or bid for acustomer's business, creating a more efficient, less expensive shoppingexperience for consumers.

In accordance with embodiments of the disclosure, an organization canfacilitate a network of merchants that choose to participate in aprogram to facilitate purchasing such as a reverse auction program. Insome cases, the organization may be one of the participating merchants.For each user (e.g., customer) of the program, the organization mayreceive a wish list and prices indicating what the user is willing topay for each of the listed items or services on the wish list. With theuser's consent, the organization may share the wish list, including theprices, with participating merchants. In some embodiments, the wish listmay include time frames in which the user plans to make the purchase(e.g., snow tires in October).

The merchants can extend offers to the user (either directly or via theorganization), indicate a price the merchant would be willing to sellthe product or services for, accept a price listed by the user, and/ormake a new offer that includes additional items that may or may not havebeen included on the user's wish list. In some embodiments, an offer ismade for the entire wish list. Thus, the purchase facilitation programmay allow the users to receive the best deal for the items that the userplans to purchase without having to shop around or compare prices.Similarly, the program to facilitate purchases allows merchants todetermine the types of purchases to bid on; to gain new, increasedtraffic to their stores; and/or to potentially sell overstockedmerchandise.

In some embodiments, a user's location can be detected by theorganization (e.g., through membership activity such as accessing a useraccount through an ATM or other channel). In some embodiments, themerchants may detect the user's location (e.g., when the merchant uses apoint-of-sale device at a particular location). Still yet, mobileapplications associated with the mobile device of the user may reportthe user's current location (e.g., periodically or upon detection of asignificant change in the location). Various participating merchants innearby locations may provide offers for products listed on the user'swish list while the user is in the area, enticing the user to purchasefrom a particular merchant instead of the competing merchants. In someembodiments, a merchant may offer to sell two or more of the items onthe wish list, possibly at a reduced price to the user. The identifiedlocation may be an online location (e.g., website).

In some embodiments, the organization may place funds that the user iswilling to pay for one or more items on the user's wish list into anescrow account. When a merchant places a bid on or below the amountspecified by the user and/or when the user accepts an offer from amerchant, the funds may be released to the merchant, and the transactionmay be settled. The merchant may be willing to sell products or servicesto the user for a lower price because the merchant has an assurance(i.e., the escrow account) that the user will be able to pay for anyproducts or services purchased. In other embodiments, the organizationcan pre-qualify a user to provide assurances to merchants.

In some embodiments, merchants can gather information from users. Forexample, merchants may post items the merchants wish to sell and obtainan interest level from users. Users may provide feedback by setting apurchase price for the items posted by the merchants. This may behelpful for merchants selling overstocked items or gauging an interestlevel from items the merchants are considering purchasing in bulk.

In some embodiments, the user has received offers that the user willaccept based on the prices listed in the wish list or on otherindications that the user provides. The organization may be aware (e.g.,from a user database) that the user does not have adequate funds (e.g.,in a user account or an escrow account) at this time to pay for all theitems and may provide the user with an offer of a “just-in-time” line ofcredit, allowing the user to accept the offers or bids using a new lineof credit. In some embodiments, the just-in-time LOC may be funded byother users of the organization, providing an investment opportunity tothe other users (e.g., the funding user may receive interest) and anopportunity to help a fellow user. In some embodiments, the just-in-timeLOC may be funded by both the organization and the other users.

In some embodiments, several or all of the wish lists may be aggregatedto identify commonly wished-for items. The organization can negotiate onbehalf of the users for lower prices, particularly on the commonlywished-for items, using the number of potential buyers as an incentiveto the merchants.

In the following description, for the purposes of explanation, numerousspecific details are set forth in order to provide a thoroughunderstanding of embodiments of the present disclosure. It will beapparent, however, to one skilled in the art that embodiments may bepracticed without some of these specific details. Moreover, while thedisclosure discusses users and/or members of an organization, theconcepts disclosed may apply equally to any customers purchasing anytype of product and any entity providing or participating in such aprogram for facilitating purchases.

FIG. 1 illustrates an example of an operating environment 100 in whichsome embodiments of the present disclosure may be utilized. Theembodiments of the present disclosure illustrated in FIG. 1 allow userinteractions through various devices such as, but not limited to,dedicated terminal 110 (e.g., public terminal or kiosk), telephone 115,mobile device 120 (e.g., mobile phone), personal computer 125, and imagecapture device 135. Other devices may include a mobile media device, amobile gaming device, and a vehicle-based computer. These devices caninclude mechanisms for interacting with organization 145 through network140 and may run one or more applications or clients that allow a user tointeract with network 140 and organization 145. Such applications mayprovide access to purchasing facilitator 160 and interfaces that allowthe users to communication with organization 145.

In addition, the devices can include network communication componentsthat enable the devices to communicate with network 140 or otherelectronic devices by transmitting and receiving wireless signals usinga licensed, semi-licensed or unlicensed spectrum over network 140. Insome cases, network 140 may be comprised of multiple networks, evenmultiple heterogeneous networks, such as one or more border networks,voice networks, broadband networks, service provider networks, InternetService Provider (ISP) networks, and/or Public Switched TelephoneNetworks (PSTNs), interconnected via gateways operable to facilitatecommunications between and among the various networks. Network 140 canalso include third-party communications networks, such as a GlobalSystem for Mobile (GSM) mobile communications network, a code/timedivision multiple access (CDMA/TDMA) mobile communications network, a3rd or 4th generation (3G/4G) mobile communications network (e.g.,General Packet Radio Service (GPRS/EGPRS)), Enhanced Data rates for GSMEvolution (EDGE), Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS), orLong Term Evolution (LTE) network, or other communications networks.

Dedicated terminal 110 (e.g., a public terminal, a kiosk, and a fueldispenser) may be a computer available to the public and/or speciallydesigned kiosks that interact with network 140.

Telephone 115 may be a landline phone. Mobile device 120 may be acellular phone, smart phone (a smart phone being a cellular phone thathas capabilities and features such as, but not limited to, internetaccess, a full keyboard, email access, Wi-Fi connection capabilities,BLUETOOTH connectivity, or any other functionality of a computer),tablet computer (a portable computer having a touch interface), netbook,or laptop possibly with a wireless connection (such as an 802.11a/b/gconnection or mobile broadband connection, such as via a 3G or 4Gwireless network).

Personal computer 125 may be any computer (e.g., desktop computers,laptop computers, netbooks, tablet computers, or Internet-enabledtelevision devices) connected to network 140. Image capture device 135may be any device that is capable of capturing an image or video of, forexample, an item a user wishes to purchase.

Image capture device 135 may be capable of capturing the images andthereafter interacting with a computing device for purpose of posting awish list using the image. The image capture device may be associatedwith a mobile device 120, a personal computer 125, or other appropriatecomputing device. In some embodiments, image capture device 135 isincluded in the mobile device 120 or other device.

Organization 145 may provide financial services to any number ofcustomers or users. The financial services may include banking,investing, insurance, and the like. In other embodiments, organization145 may be an entity that provides a single financial service such asbanking to customers. Organization 145 can use a variety of interactionmethods, protocols, and systems to interact with its users.

As illustrated in FIG. 1 , organization 145 can be communicably coupledto network 140, purchasing facilitator 160, merchant participants 165,and databases such as user database 150 and wish list database 155. Userdatabase 150 may have a variety of information that can be used by thepurchasing facilitator 160. For example, user database 150 may includethe name, address, age, annual salary, marital status, accountinformation, length of membership, preferences, vehicle information,etc. Wish list database 155 may include user-created wish lists. Thewish lists may include a list of items or services that the user desiresand a price that the user is willing to pay for each item or service. Insome embodiments, the wish list includes an event and a time frame(e.g., nephew's eighth birthday on January 15, nephew lives in Seattle,WA), leaving it open to suggestions, recommendations, and offers fromthe merchants.

In some embodiments, the user database 150 and the wish list database155 can be integrated into one database. A computer system associatedwith the organization 145 within network 140 may be able to access these(and other) databases for user information and other stored information.

Purchasing facilitator 160 may use information from the user database150 and information from the wish list database 155 to manage a programto facilitate purchases. Purchasing facilitator 160 may maintain wishlists of participating users, share the user wish lists with themerchant participants 165, receive and aggregate offers from themerchant participants 165, notify users of the offers, locate the users,set aside funds in escrow accounts for the users, and providejust-in-time line of credit.

Merchant participants 165 are merchants who are participating in theprogram that facilitates purchasing such as a reverse auction program.Merchant participants 165 may fund the program and pay organization 145a certain percent of each item a user purchases. Merchant participants165 may have pre-negotiated contracts with organization 145 regardinguser privacy, pricing, and the like. In some embodiments theorganization 145 can be included as a participating merchant 165.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating components that can be includedin a system such as purchasing facilitator 160. According to theembodiments shown in FIG. 2 , memory 210, processor(s) 215, merchantparticipant module 220, user participant module 225, wish list generator230, wish list sharing module 235, offer aggregator and analyzer 240,notification module 245, location determination module 250, transactioncompletion module 255, escrow account module 260, just-in-time Line ofCredit (“LOC”) module 265, and Graphical User Interface (“GUI”)generation module 270. Other embodiments of the present disclosure mayinclude some, all, or none of these modules and components along withother modules, applications, and/or components.

The modules and components illustrated in FIG. 2 may be hardware,firmware, software, or a combination. Still yet, some embodiments mayincorporate two or more of these modules into a single module and/orassociate a portion of the functionality of one or more of these moduleswith a different module. For example, in one embodiment, thefunctionality associated with wish list generator 230 and wish listsharing module 235 can be incorporated into a single wish list module.In some embodiments, the transaction completion module 255 can beseparated into a purchase price confirmation module to confirm thepurchase price, pick-up/delivery module to determine how the item willbe provided to the user, and receipt delivery module to generate andsend a final receipt to the user.

Memory 210 can be any device, mechanism, or populated data structureused for storing information. In accordance with some embodiments of thepresent disclosure, memory 210 can encompass any type of, but notlimited to, volatile memory, nonvolatile memory and dynamic memory. Forexample, memory 210 can be random access memory, memory storage devices,optical memory devices, magnetic media, floppy disks, magnetic tapes,hard drives, SIMMs, SDRAM, DIMMs, RDRAM, DDR RAM, SODIMMS, erasableprogrammable read-only memories (EPROMs), electrically erasableprogrammable read-only memories (EEPROMs), compact disks, DVDs, and/orthe like. In accordance with some embodiments, memory 210 may includeone or more disk drives, flash drives, one or more databases, one ormore tables, one or more files, local cache memories, processor cachememories, relational databases, flat databases, and/or the like. Inaddition, those of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate manyadditional devices and techniques for storing information which can beused as memory 210.

Memory 210 may be used to store instructions for running one or moreapplications or modules on processor(s) 220. For example, memory 210could be used in one or more embodiments to house all or some of theinstructions needed to execute the functionality of merchant participantmodule 220, user participant module 225, wish list generator 230, wishlist sharing module 235, offer aggregator and analyzer 240, notificationmodule 245, location determination module 250, transaction completionmodule 255, escrow account module 260, just-in-time LOC module 265,and/or GUI generation module 270.

Merchant participant module 220 can track and manage merchantparticipation in the program for facilitating purchases. Merchantparticipant module 220 may also generate a list of merchantsparticipating in the program and may maintain the list as merchants joinor leave. The merchant participant list may be confidential. This listmay be presented to users when asking the users if the user would liketo join the program for facilitating purchases. Merchants will be ableto view wish lists generated by wish list generator 230 and make offersfor items on the wish list and/or other items that the user may beinterested in purchasing. The participating merchants may be provided aninterface or other mechanism to view the offers made by other merchants.

User participant module 225 can maintain a list of participating users.In order to participate in the purchase facilitation program, users maybe required to sign a consent agreement to have their wish list and/orlocation information shared with participating merchants. Whenregistering for the purchase facilitation program, the user may specifypreferences for one or more items or retain the default settings.Preferences may include notification preferences (e.g., text message,email, etc.), location tracking preferences, cost calculationpreferences, etc. For example, in calculating a total cost to the user,the user may have specified a primary make and model of vehicle for fuelcalculations. Additionally, the user may specify a value of their time(e.g., $80/hour). Thus, a traffic jam detected on an intended routecosting the user additional time may factor differently into a totalcost equation depending on the user's preferences.

Wish list generator 230 can allow users to create a wish list. The wishlist may include items or services the user is willing to purchase for alisted price. The wish list may also specify a time of year or date inwhich the user intends to purchase the item. In some embodiments theusers choose items from a catalog to put into their wish list. In othercases, a GUI screen may be presented that allows the user to search andselect items and/or services of interest. The items and/or services maybe placed by merchants in order to gauge interest levels beforeinvesting in the items and/or services themselves or before pricing theitems and/or services.

In some embodiments, the items and/or services may be items and/orservices commonly offered by the merchants. Still yet, the GUI screenmay allow the user to enter descriptive information about items and/orservices they would be interested in, both generally and specifically.For example, in some embodiments, a user may be able identify aninterest in any 1987 baseball cards. The more general descriptions mayallow merchants to present items to users.

Wish list generator 230 may suggest prices or ranges of prices (e.g.,MSRP) to users. Wish list generator 230 may further provide anindication of the likelihood the user's selected price may be acceptedor found. Users may also receive an estimated wait time to receive a bid(e.g., based on historical bids).

Wish list sharing module 235 can share the wish lists generated by wishlist generator 230 with participating merchants. In some embodiments,the user must specify a preference for revealing their identity and/orsharing their wish lists before any information is provided to theparticipating merchants. Amendments and updates to the list may bepushed to the merchants in real-time, in near real-time, in batches, oron a periodic schedule. In some embodiments, wish list sharing module235 reviews the wish lists of some, if not all, the users and identifiescommonly noted items. Using this information, the organization maybargain on behalf of the users, essentially increasing the buying powerof the user.

Offer aggregator and analyzer 240 can receive offers or bids frommerchants, aggregate the offers or bids, analyze the offers based oninformation merchant and user information, and sort the offers or bidsby best deal for the user. The offers may indicate a price the merchantwould be willing to sell for, accept a price listed by the user, and/ormake a new offer that includes additional items that may or may not beon the user's wish list.

Analyzing the offers may include determining a total cost of the offer.The total cost may be based on discount coupons that can be applied tothe offer, rewards the user will earn in making the purchase (e.g.,reward from using a particular payment instrument associated with themerchant or the organization), location of the user, estimatedtransportation costs (e.g., fuel economy of vehicle expected to bedriven, distance, traffic issues, tolls, etc.), cost of the time it willtake the user to make the purchase (e.g., including travel time to themerchant location from a current location and to final destination),shipping costs, etc.

In some embodiments, the offer may be for several items or all the itemson the wish list. Offer aggregator and analyzer 240 parses the estimatedamount for each item in the offer, including a time savings forpurchasing and collecting the items at one location. For each item, theoffers may be prioritized by price and/or total cost.

Offer aggregator and analyzer 240 may make transactions from onemerchant available for viewing by the other merchants. In someembodiments, the total cost may be provided to other merchants.Merchants may then be forced to determine the lowest price the merchantis willing to offer and provide competing offers. This may beparticularly useful for users wishing to purchase higher-priced items,assuring the user that they are receiving the best deal. For example,two dealerships with similar vehicles may be allowed to viewcommunications between the user and the other dealership, allowing thedealership to see the price that the dealership must beat in order toobtain the user's business. In some embodiments, merchants set upbusiness rules such that a bottom price may be offered, but a lowerprice cannot be offered. The “best deal” for the user may include acalculation of travel time and expenses and/or cost to pick-up ordeliver the item, sales tax, and/or any other preferences or costs theuser has specified. Cost of travel to the merchant may be based on theuser's current location or a specified location. Offer aggregator andanalyzer 240 may provide the assessment and total cost to notificationmodule 245.

Notification module 245 notifies the user that one or more offers havebeen received. Notification module 245 may provide the offer and a totalcost of the offer to the user based on the calculations determined byoffer aggregator and analyzer 240. The notification may be made in anymanner such as SMS messaging, an email, a phone message, a messageposted on an account of the user, and the like. The merchant may benotified if the user accepts, rejects, or counteroffers an offer placedby a user. In some embodiments, notification module 245 may notify theuser of an offer based on the user's location.

The estimated total cost calculations may be helpful to the user in thedecision-making process. For example, if the user is currently shoppingat a first merchant, the user may locate an item on the user's wishlist. The user may be notified that the same item is available for $15less at a second merchant that is fifteen miles away. The total costcalculation may include a price of the item at the second merchant andthe fuel cost and wear and tear of the user's vehicle in traveling tothe second merchant. The total cost of purchasing the item from thesecond merchant may actually be more than the cost of purchasing thetime from the first merchant when the fuel costs and other costs arecalculated to determine the total cost. The notification module 245 mayinclude cost comparisons.

Location determination module 250 determines a location of the user. Thelocation may be determined by any method known in the art (e.g., cellphone triangulation and geofencing). In some embodiments, the user mayreceive offers based on the user's location. For example, the merchantsmay receive notification that the user is near the merchant location andmake an offer. In some embodiments, the merchant may attempt to entice auser who is currently shopping in a competitor's location to purchasefrom the merchant by making an offer to the user.

Transaction completion module 255 may complete a transaction. Completinga transaction may include receiving an acceptance of an offer from auser, confirming the acceptance, sending a notification to the merchantmaking the offer via the notification module 245, releasing funds fromescrow to the merchant, sending a receipt to the user, scheduling pickup or delivery times, and settling the payment.

Escrow account module 260 may provide an escrow account to a use andreceive funds equal to the amount of money the user is willing to payfor one or more items listed on their wish list. In some embodiments,when a merchant has offered a price at or below the user's escrowedamount and/or when the user accepts the offer, the escrow account module260 may release the funds to the merchant. Information regarding thewish list, including prices, may be provided to the escrow accountmodule 260. Notification module 245 may notify the user after the escrowaccount module 260 indicates that the funds have been released to amerchant.

Just-in-time LOC module 265 can detect that the user does not havesufficient funds to accept an offer from a merchant and may offer a lineof credit to a user after the offer has been received, allowing the userto complete the purchase. In some embodiments, just-in-time LOC module265 may offer a line of credit even if the user has sufficient funds toaccept an offer.

GUI generation module 270 can generate one or more GUI screens thatallow for interaction between the users, the organization, and themerchants. In at least one embodiment, GUI generation module 270generates a GUI allowing a user to generate wish lists, receive bids,accept bids, set preferences, and/or otherwise receive or conveyinformation to the user. GUI generation module 270 may also displayreceived information from the merchants (e.g., offers) and conveyinformation to the merchants (e.g., the wish lists, current offers foritems on the wish list).

FIG. 3 is a flow chart illustrating an example set of operations 300 foroperating a purchasing facilitator such as a reverse auction system inaccordance with various embodiments of the present disclosure. Theoperations can be performed by various components such as processor(s)215, merchant participant module 220, user participant module 225, wishlist generator 230, wish list sharing module 235, offer aggregator andanalyzer 240, notification module 245, location determination module250, transaction completion module 255, and other modules/components.

In merchant network generation operation 310, a network of merchantsparticipating in a purchase facilitation program is compiled. In someembodiments, the participating merchants are participating in a programwith users of organization 145.

The users or customers of organization 145 may be enrolled in thepurchase facilitation program after making an enrollment request throughuser participation request operation 320. The user can make the requestin a manner convenient for the user (e.g., phone, mobile application,web portal and SMS messaging). After enrolling the program, the userscan generate a wish list and provide the list to organization 145 inwish list receiving operation 330. The wish list may be generated by theuser selecting items from a catalog, selecting items from a list, keyingin items, sending pictures of items, etc.

In wish list sharing operation 340, the wish lists received from wishlist receiving operation 330 are shared with the network of merchants.Depending upon the privacy preferences of the user, other informationrelated to the user may be shared with the merchants, such as the user'spreferences for communication, shopping, rewards, etc. In offerreceiving operation 350, organization 145 may receive the offers on theuser's wish list items from merchants. In some embodiments, the offersare sent directly to the user. The offers may include a bid price forthe item or several items on the user's wish list. For example, theprice of a particular item may be lower when it is bundled with anotheritem on the wish list.

Aggregation operation 360 aggregates and sorts the offers from themerchants and sends the information to the user. Thereafter, the usermay choose to accept an offer from one of the merchants. If the useraccepts an offer, then the wish list may be automatically updated toreflect the purchase.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating an example set of operations 400 foroperating a purchasing facilitator in accordance with variousembodiments of the present disclosure. The operations can be performedby various components such as processor(s) 215, merchant participantmodule 220, user participant module 225, wish list generator 230, wishlist sharing module 235, offer aggregator and analyzer 240, notificationmodule 245, location determination module 250, transaction completionmodule 255, and other modules/components.

Wish list receiving operation 410 receives a wish list from a userparticipating in a purchase facilitation program. The wish list mayinclude items the user wishes to purchase and may further include pricesthe user is willing to pay for one or more items on the wish list. Inlocation operation 420, a participating user is located. In an example,a user may be using a mobile application associated with theorganization or the purchase facilitation program, and the user'slocation may be identified by the organization and/or the participatingmerchants. Geofencing may also be used to indicate a location of a user,alerting a merchant or the organization that a user with a particularwish list is within the geofenced area.

Based on the location information collected in location operation 420,identification operation 430 identifies participating merchants within apredetermined distance of the user. Identification operation 430 mayfurther notify the participating merchants that the user is within anidentified distance from the merchant. Offer receiving operation 440 mayreceive one or more offers from one or more merchants. Notificationoperation 450 notifies the user of any offers. Accepting operation 460receives acceptance of an offer from the user. The offer may be acceptedusing a one-click operation from the user on the user's smartphone, forexample. After acceptance of an offer, complete transaction operation470 completes the transaction. Completing the transaction may includedetermining details of delivery, payment, and an exchange of anyadditional information. Complete transaction operation may furtherinclude removing the purchased item from the user's wish list.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating an example set of operations 500 foroperating a purchasing facilitator in accordance with variousembodiments of the present disclosure. The operations can be performedby various components such as processor(s) 215, merchant participantmodule 220, user participant module 225, wish list generator 230, wishlist sharing module 235, offer aggregator and analyzer 240, notificationmodule 245, location determination module 250, transaction completionmodule 255, escrow account module 260, just-in-time LOC module 265, andother modules/components.

Wish list receiving operation 510 receives or accesses a wish listcreated by a user that may be stored in the wish list database. The wishlist may include items the user wishes to purchase and may furtherinclude prices the user is willing to pay for one or more items on thewish list. Funds depositing operation 520 deposits user's funds foritems in a wish list in an escrow account. The amount of the funds maybe equal to an amount the user is willing to pay for the items orservices specified on the user's wish list. In some embodiments, theuser may deposit an amount less than the total amount the user iswilling to pay for all the items and may further indicate a priority ofwhich items or services the funds are reserved for.

Wish list providing operation 530 provides a user wish list to themerchants participating in the purchase facilitation program. Based onthe wish list, merchants may provide bids or make offers that meet orexceed the deal that the user specified in the wish list in receivingoperation 540. The user accepts or confirms acceptance of an offer inaccepting operation 550. In some embodiments, the user automaticallyaccepts an offer that meets the user's specified price point for thatitem or service. In other embodiments, the user evaluates the offers andeven makes a counteroffer. Upon receipt of confirmation that the userwishes to make a purchase for a wish list item from a participatingmerchant, release funds operation 560 releases funds to the chosenmerchant to complete the purchase for the user.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating an example set of operations 600 foroperating a purchasing facilitator in accordance with variousembodiments of the present disclosure. The operations can be performedby various components such as processor(s) 215, merchant participantmodule 220, user participant module 225, wish list generator 230, wishlist sharing module 235, offer aggregator and analyzer 240, notificationmodule 245, location determination module 250, transaction completionmodule 255, and other modules/components.

Receiving operation 610 receives a wish list from a user. Publishingoperation 620 publishes the wish list to merchants who are participatingin a purchase facilitation program. The wish list may be published on aweb portal accessible to the merchant participants. In some embodiments,alerts are sent to the merchants with user updates to the wish list.

Identifying operation 630 identifies a location of the user. Identifyingmay include detecting, tracking, determining, and/or receiving thelocation of the user. The user may be identified using any techniqueknown in the art. For example, the user may be located using GPSlocation using the user's mobile device. In some embodiments, the usermay be located using geofencing techniques. In some embodiments, theuser's location is detected, tracked, determined, and/or identified bythe user organization. If permission is given, the organization mayshare the user's location information with one or more of the merchants.In other embodiments, the participating merchants identify the user'slocation.

After the user's location is identified, receiving operation 640receives offers for one or more items or services on the user's wishlist based on the user's location. The offers may be based on the user'sproximity to the merchant or the merchant's competitors. For example, ifthe user's wish list includes a barbeque and the organization (ormerchant) determines that the user is at or within a proximity of acompetitor of the merchant that also sells barbeques, then the merchantmay make a competing offer to the user. The offer may propose to sellthe barbeque at a lower price than the competitor's current offer andmay also include additional perks such as free shipment to the user'sdoorstep.

The offer may include an offer to sell a few or all of the items on theuser's wish list for a certain price. In some embodiments, the offer mayinclude one or more items that are not on the wish list but that aregleaned from the organization's or merchant's understanding of theuser's needs (e.g., mother's day is coming up so the offer includes anoffer to send flowers to user's mother). This information may bedetermined from the user's historical behavior (e.g., credit cardtransactions), calendar, or information from a friend or family memberof the user.

Analyzing operation 650 analyzes the offer to calculate a total cost tothe user of the offer. Factors that may be included in the calculationare the price of the item and a cost to obtain the items. A cost toobtain the items may include a cost of traveling to pick up the itemfrom a current location of a user or a specified location. The cost oftraveling may include an estimated cost of fuel to travel to themerchant and a cost associated with wear and tear on the vehicle used totravel to the merchant. The costs may be estimated by using the make andmodel of the vehicle that the user drives or specifies. The user mayalso specify that the item will be picked up using publictransportation.

In some embodiments, the user may choose to have the item shipped ordelivered to a specified location. Instead of calculating the cost totravel to pick up the item, a cost of shipping may be calculated orreceived from the merchant or shipping company. The total cost may alsoinclude a cost of time to the user (e.g., a monetary conversion of timeneeded to complete the transaction that may be particular to the user).

Notifying operation 660 notifies the user of the one or more offers andthe total cost. The notification may be received via text message, pushnotification, mobile application, email, voice call, or the like. Insome embodiments, the user may select an option to “ACCEPT OFFER” tolock in the deal and complete the purchase. Some offers may betime-limited (e.g., the user has 30 minutes to accept the offer).

FIG. 7 is a flowchart illustrating an example set of operations 700 foroperating a purchasing facilitator in accordance with variousembodiments of the present disclosure. The operations can be performedby various components such as processor(s) 215, merchant participantmodule 220, user participant module 225, wish list generator 230, wishlist sharing module 235, offer aggregator and analyzer 240, notificationmodule 245, location determination module 250, transaction completionmodule 255, and other modules/components.

Receiving operation 710 receives one or more wish lists from one or moreusers. Publishing operation 720 publishes the wish lists, making thewish lists accessible to merchants who are participating in a purchasefacilitation program. Aggregating operation 730 aggregates the user wishlists to assist with identification of items that appear on more thanone wish list. Items or services that appear on more than one list areidentified in identifying operation 740. Negotiating operation 750negotiates a group rate with one or more merchants for at least some ofthe commonly listed items. For example, if a group of users includetires on their wish lists, the organization may negotiate a special rateon tires with a merchant. Notifying operation 760 may notify the userswho included the common item in their wish list of the group rate andthe merchant offering the group rate. In some embodiments, notifyingoperation notifies other users who did not include tires on their wishlist.

In some embodiments, the common item(s) are automatically purchased ifthe purchase price or total cost is below a specified amount indicatedon the user's wish list. Total cost may include shipping costs, timecosts, mileage, sales tax. Using a total cost instead of the purchaseprice as a comparison to the user's specified amount may be particularlyhelpful where the discount merchant is located in a different city orstate than the user and shipping costs or other costs may substantiallyincrease the total cost to the user.

FIG. 8 is a sequence diagram illustrating communications between variouscomponents of a purchasing facilitator in accordance with variousembodiments of the present disclosure. The user computing device maysend a registration request and registration information to theorganization server. Registration may include information about the user(e.g., interests, age, etc.) and a form of payment information. A wishlist may be created on the user computing device and sent to theorganization server. The wish list may include a price and/or a totalcost the user is willing to pay for each item.

The organization server may aggregate the wish lists and identify commonitems or services on the wish lists. The wish lists and the common itemsmay be compiled and made accessible to participating merchants viamerchant computing devices.

A location determination module may identify the location of the user.The location determination module may communicate the user locationinformation to the merchant computing devices and/or the organizationserver. One or more of the merchants via the merchant computing devicesmay generate offers based at least in part on the user's location. Forexample, a merchant may detect that the user is physically located ablock from the merchant or perusing in the merchant's store. Themerchant may decrease the price of the item or service to entice theuser to make a purchase. In some embodiments, the merchant may includeadditional wish list items as part of an offer.

The offers may be sent from the merchant computing devices to theorganization server. The organization server may analyze the informationand calculate or estimate a total cost of the item or service to theuser. Information such as the user's location, the location of themerchant, the user's destination, a cost of the user's time, fuel costs,sales tax, etc. may be factored into the calculation. The user may benotified of the offers and total costs. The user may communicate witheither the organization or the merchant to accept, deny, or provide acounteroffer. In some embodiments, the merchants are provided with thetotal cost information for their offer, and/or the other offers andcorresponding total cost information for the other offers.

In other embodiments, a subscriber service may provide a forum for usersto post items and services that the user wants to sell, as well as itemsand services that users want to purchase. The service may be based on alocation of the subscribers. Thus, looking to purchase within apredetermined distance, a subscriber may locate items being sold byother subscribers. The subscriber may facilitate the purchasing orselling effort by taking pictures of items the subscriber wants to sellor purchase. The subscribing service may organize the items and alertshoppers and sellers that these items are available for purchase orsale. The buyers and sellers in this embodiment may be non-commercialentities.

Computer System Overview

Embodiments of the present disclosure include various steps andoperations, which have been described above. A variety of these stepsand operations may be performed by hardware components or may beembodied in machine-executable instructions, which may be used to causea general-purpose or special-purpose processor programmed with theinstructions to perform the steps. Alternatively, the steps may beperformed by a combination of hardware, software, and/or firmware. Assuch, FIG. 9 is an example of a computer system 900 with whichembodiments of the present disclosure may be utilized. According to thepresent example, the computer system includes a bus 905, at least oneprocessor 910, at least one communication port 915, a main memory 920, aremovable storage media 925, a read only memory 930, and a mass storagedevice 935.

Processor(s) 910 can be any known processor, such as, but not limitedto, an Intel® Itanium® or Itanium 2® processor(s), or AMD® Opteron® orAthlon MP® processor(s), or Motorola® lines of processors. Communicationport(s) 915 can be any of an RS-232 port for use with a modem baseddialup connection, a 10/100 Ethernet port, or a Gigabit port usingcopper or fiber. Communication port(s) 915 may be chosen depending on anetwork such a Local Area Network (LAN), Wide Area Network (WAN), or anynetwork to which the computer system 900 connects.

Main memory 920 can be Random Access Memory (RAM), or any other dynamicstorage device(s) commonly known in the art. Read only memory 930 can beany static storage device(s) such as Programmable Read Only Memory(PROM) chips for storing static information such as instructions forprocessor 910.

Mass storage device 935 can be used to store information andinstructions. For example, hard disks such as the Adaptec® family ofSCSI drives, an optical disc, an array of disks such as RAID, such asthe Adaptec family of RAID drives, or any other mass storage devices maybe used.

Bus 905 communicatively couples processor(s) 910 with the other memory,storage and communication blocks. Bus 905 can be a PCI/PCI-X or SCSIbased system bus depending on the storage devices used.

Removable storage media 925 can be any kind of external hard-drives,floppy drives, IOMEGA® Zip Drives, Compact Disc-Read Only Memory(CD-ROM), Compact Disc-Re-Writable (CD-RW), Digital Video Disk-Read OnlyMemory (DVD-ROM).

The components described above are meant to exemplify some types ofpossibilities. In no way should the aforementioned examples limit thescope of the disclosure, as they are only exemplary embodiments.

Terminology

Brief definitions of terms, abbreviations, and phrases used throughoutthis application are given below.

The terms “connected” or “coupled” and related terms are used in anoperational sense and are not necessarily limited to a direct physicalconnection or coupling. Thus, for example, two devices may be coupleddirectly, or via one or more intermediary media or devices. As anotherexample, devices may be coupled in such a way that information can bepassed therebetween, while not sharing any physical connection with oneanother. Based on the disclosure provided herein, one of ordinary skillin the art will appreciate a variety of ways in which connection orcoupling exists in accordance with the aforementioned definition.

The phrases “in some embodiments,” “according to some embodiments,” “inthe embodiments shown,” “in other embodiments,” and the like generallymean the particular feature, structure, or characteristic following thephrase is included in at least one embodiment of the present disclosure,and may be included in more than one embodiment of the presentdisclosure. In addition, such phrases do not necessarily refer to thesame embodiments or different embodiments.

If the specification states a component or feature “may”, “can”,“could”, or “might” be included or have a characteristic, thatparticular component or feature is not required to be included or havethe characteristic.

The term “responsive” includes completely or partially responsive.

The term “module” refers broadly to a software, hardware, or firmware(or any combination thereof) component. Modules are typically functionalcomponents that can generate useful data or other output using specifiedinput(s). A module may or may not be self-contained. An applicationprogram (also called an “application”) may include one or more modules,or a module can include one or more application programs.

The term “network” generally refers to a group of interconnected devicescapable of exchanging information. A network may be as few as severalpersonal computers on a Local Area Network (LAN) or as large as theInternet, a worldwide network of computers. As used herein “network” isintended to encompass any network capable of transmitting informationfrom one entity to another. In some cases, a network may be comprised ofmultiple networks, even multiple heterogeneous networks, such as one ormore border networks, voice networks, broadband networks, financialnetworks, service provider networks, Internet Service Provider (ISP)networks, and/or Public Switched Telephone Networks (PSTNs),interconnected via gateways operable to facilitate communicationsbetween and among the various networks.

Embodiments of the present disclosure may be provided as a computerprogram product which may include a machine-readable medium havingstored thereon instructions which may be used to program a computer (orother electronic devices) to perform a process. The machine-readablemedium may include, but is not limited to, floppy diskettes, opticaldisks, compact disc read-only memories (CD-ROMs), and magneto-opticaldisks, ROMs, random access memories (RAMs), erasable programmableread-only memories (EPROMs), electrically erasable programmableread-only memories (EEPROMs), magnetic or optical cards, flash memory,or other type of media/machine-readable medium suitable for storingelectronic instructions. Moreover, embodiments of the present disclosuremay also be downloaded as a computer program product, wherein theprogram may be transferred from a remote computer to a requestingcomputer by way of data signals embodied in a carrier wave or otherpropagation medium via a communication link (e.g., a modem or networkconnection).

Also, for the sake of illustration, various embodiments of the presentdisclosure have herein been described in the context of computerprograms, physical components, and logical interactions within moderncomputer networks. Importantly, while these embodiments describe variousaspects of the disclosure in relation to modern computer networks andprograms, the method and apparatus described herein are equallyapplicable to other systems, devices, and networks as one skilled in theart will appreciate. As such, the illustrated applications of theembodiments of the present disclosure are not meant to be limiting, butinstead examples. Other systems, devices, and networks to whichembodiments of the present disclosure are applicable include, but arenot limited to, other types of communication and computer devices andsystems. More specifically, embodiments are applicable to communicationsystems, services, and devices such as cell phone networks andcompatible devices. In addition, embodiments are applicable to alllevels of computing from the personal computer to large networkmainframes and servers.

In conclusion, the present disclosure provides novel systems, methodsand arrangements for facilitating purchases. While detailed descriptionsof one or more embodiments of the disclosure have been given above,various alternatives, modifications, and equivalents will be apparent tothose skilled in the art without varying from the spirit of thedisclosure. For example, while the embodiments described above refer toparticular features, the scope of this disclosure also includesembodiments having different combinations of features and embodimentsthat do not include all of the described features. Accordingly, thescope of the present disclosure is intended to embrace all suchalternatives, modifications, and variations as they fall within thescope of the claims, together with all equivalents thereof. Therefore,the above description should not be taken as limiting the scope of thedisclosure.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method comprising: selecting, by a user deviceassociated with a user, one or more items or services of one or moremerchants participating in a purchasing facilitator program; providing adevice location of the user device to the purchasing facilitatorprogram; receiving, from at least one merchant of the one or moremerchants, one or more offers for the one or more items or servicesbased on a merchant location of the at least one merchant being within aproximity of the device location, and a total cost of the one or moreoffers; causing, by the user device, an indication that the user doesnot have funds to accept the one or more offers to be sent; and inresponse to the indication, receiving, by the user device, an offer fora line of credit to pay for all or a portion of the total cost of theone or more items or services.
 2. The method of claim 1, furthercomprising: publishing, by the user device, an event and a time frameindicated by the user to the one or more merchants participating in thepurchasing facilitator program; and receiving, from the one or moremerchants, one or more second offers for a suggestion or recommendationassociated with the event and the time frame.
 3. The method of claim 1,further comprising: receiving a notification that funds were depositedinto an escrow account for the user.
 4. The method of claim 1, furthercomprising: sending, by the user device, a notification that the useraccepts the offer for the line of credit.
 5. The method of claim 1,further comprising: in response to the user accepting the line ofcredit, receiving a receipt for the one or more items or services. 6.The method of claim 1, wherein the line of credit is funded by at leastone participant of the purchasing facilitator program or an organizationthat operates the purchasing facilitator program, and wherein, inresponse to the user accepting the offer for the line of credit, the atleast one participant or the organization that offers the line of creditreceives interest on the line of credit.
 7. The method of claim 1,wherein the total cost of the one or more offers is based on acalculation of transportation costs for the user to obtain the one ormore items or services based on the device location of the user.
 8. Asystem comprising: one or more processors; and one or more memoriesstoring instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors,cause the system to perform a process comprising: selecting, by a userdevice associated with a user, one or more items or services of one ormore merchants participating in a purchasing facilitator program;providing a device location of the user device to the purchasingfacilitator program; receiving, from at least one merchant of the one ormore merchants, one or more offers for the one or more items or servicesbased on a merchant location of the at least one merchant being within aproximity of the device location, and a total cost of the one or moreoffers; causing, by the user device, an indication that the user doesnot have funds to accept the one or more offers to be sent; and inresponse to the indication, receiving, by the user device, an offer fora line of credit to pay for all or a portion of the total cost of theone or more items or services.
 9. The system according to claim 8,wherein the process further comprises: publishing, by the user device,an event and a time frame indicated by the user to the one or moremerchants participating in the purchasing facilitator program; andreceiving, from the one or more merchants, one or more second offers fora suggestion or recommendation associated with the event and the timeframe.
 10. The system according to claim 8, wherein the process furthercomprises: receiving a notification that funds were deposited into anescrow account for the user.
 11. The system according to claim 8,wherein the process further comprises: sending, by the user device, anotification that the user accepts the offer for the line of credit. 12.The system according to claim 8, wherein the process further comprises:in response to the user accepting the line of credit, receiving areceipt for the one or more items or services.
 13. The system accordingto claim 8, wherein the line of credit is funded by at least oneparticipant of the purchasing facilitator program or an organizationthat operates the purchasing facilitator program, and wherein, inresponse to the user accepting the offer for the line of credit, the atleast one participant or the organization that offers the line of creditreceives interest on the line of credit.
 14. The system according toclaim 8, wherein the total cost of the one or more offers is based on acalculation of transportation costs for the user to obtain the one ormore items or services based on the device location of the user.
 15. Anon-transitory computer-readable medium storing instructions that, whenexecuted by a computing system, cause the computing system to performoperations comprising: selecting, by a user device associated with auser, one or more items or services of one or more merchantsparticipating in a purchasing facilitator program; providing a devicelocation of the user device to the purchasing facilitator program;receiving, from at least one merchant of the one or more merchants, oneor more offers for the one or more items or services based on a merchantlocation of the at least one merchant being within a proximity of thedevice location, and a total cost of the one or more offers; causing, bythe user device, an indication that the user does not have funds toaccept the one or more offers to be sent; and in response to theindication, receiving, by the user device, an offer for a line of creditto pay for all or a portion of the total cost of the one or more itemsor services.
 16. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim15, wherein the operations further comprise: publishing, by the userdevice, an event and a time frame indicated by the user to the one ormore merchants participating in the purchasing facilitator program; andreceiving, from the one or more merchants, one or more second offers fora suggestion or recommendation associated with the event and the timeframe.
 17. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 15,wherein the operations further comprise: receiving a notification thatfunds were deposited into an escrow account for the user.
 18. Thenon-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 15, wherein theoperations further comprise: sending, by the user device, a notificationthat the user accepts the offer for the line of credit.
 19. Thenon-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 15, wherein theoperations further comprise: in response to the user accepting the lineof credit, receiving a receipt for the one or more items or services.20. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 15, wherein theline of credit is funded by at least one participant of the purchasingfacilitator program or an organization that operates the purchasingfacilitator program, and wherein, in response to the user accepting theoffer for the line of credit, the at least one participant or theorganization that offers the line of credit receives interest on theline of credit, and wherein the total cost of the one or more offers isbased on a calculation of transportation costs for the user to obtainthe one or more items or services based on the device location of theuser.